What do I say to someone who has cancer?
It’s a topic. Anyone that has shared a cancer diagnosis knows that we get together with our favorite beverage and compare the stupid, inconsiderate things we think people are saying to us. No one wants a membership to the Cancer Club, or to sit around and vent regarding oblivious, mean-well assholes! Yikes, but it unfortunately is a very delicate reality. It’s a true downer to the already nervous, riddled with anxiety brain of a person living with cancer. I say living because we ARE living. We are not vacant, immune, or a foreign object, we are still HERE, living. People certainly do not mean to offend someone with cancer; they genuinely have concerns, anguish and anxiety parallel to ours. Luckily, there are amazing books out there to help assist in this exact situation. Here are just a few to check out.
Lori Hope is the author of Help me live, 20 Things people with Cancer want you to know.
http://www.cancernetwork.com/survivorship/human-side-cancer-living-hope-coping-uncertainty
Jimmie C. Holland MD and Sheldon Lewis share their insights on what they have discovered from those facing a life-threatening illness and what helps them along the way.
www.lettycottinpogrebin.com/works.htm
How to become a friend to a friend who is sick is a book written by survivor and acclaimed author Letty Cottin Progrebin.